Richard dana upham



Patented Feb. 2|, I899.

N0. si9,alo..

R. D. UPHAM.

TREATING BAGGING FOR ASPHALT.

(Application filed June 9, 1898.)

(No Model.)

v M hfveufoz Witnesses as so. PHOTO'LITHO" WASHINGTON. q 0.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

RICHARD DANA UPHAM, OF NEW YORK, N. Y.

TREATING BAGGING FOR ASPHALT.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 619,810, dated February-21, 1899.

Application filed June 9, 1898. Serial No- 683,002. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, RICHARD DANA UPHAM, a citizen of the United States, residing in the city, county, and State of New York, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Treating Bagging for Asphalt, of which the following is a specification.

Asphalt, and especially Trinidad asphalt, as it is found in its natural condition is of a hard solid character, requiring to be broken up or dug out by means of a pick or other like instrument, and will not retain this character at ordinary temperatures, but softens and flows after a time, so that it is necessary in order to transport it to inclose it in some kind of a receptacle.

Hitherto it has been common to melt the asphalt and pour it into barrels, which are then headed up and transported. This means is effective, but it is attended with considerable expense from the cost and weight of the barrels and from the difficulty of removing the contents. Various means of avoiding these objections have been tried from time to time, but, so far as I am aware, none of them have been successful to the extent of supplanting the use of barrels. After many experiments I have ascertained that by the use of a properly-prepared fabric it is practicable to dispense with the use of barrels heretofore employed.

In carrying out my invention I first form a receptacle of prepared fabric in any suitable manner. For instance, I take a bag of cotton or jute-such, for instance, as an ordinary sugar-bag-turn it inside out and dip it in a mixture of clay and water of about the consistency of thin plaster or mortar, and then reverse the bag and dip it in the same way, so as to coat the outside. The bag may then be dried; but I prefer to make use of it before it is entirely dry, placing it in a box or other like receptacle X, as shown in the accompanying drawing, for the purpose of holding it steady and giving proper form to the package, and then melt the asphalt and pour it into the open mouth of the bag until the latter is nearly full, after which the mouth is closed and tied and the bag removed, with its contents, from the box. By using the bag in a partially-dried condition I prevent the burning of the fabric in case the asphalt should be heated to too great an extent. In-

stead of forming the fabric into a bag the properly-prepared fabric may be placed in strips in the box, so as to coat the bottom and sides, and the molten asphalt may then be poured in, and after it is hardened or nearly hardened the upper ends of the strips may be closed down upon the materialand secured by binding-cords or otherwise. I have found that by thus forming a receptacle consisting of prepared fabric I not only avoid the expense and weight of barrels or casks and the expense of transporting the latter, but I am also enabled to more readily gain access to the asphalt, as it is simply necessary to open the bag and draw it backward over the material, when the latter will be released, or if it has become compressed in such a shape that this cannot be done the covering can readily be removed by ripping the seams and stripping oi the fabric.

While I have referred to the use of clay, almost any substance which can be made into a paste or mixture with water and which on drying will form a covering upon the fabric may be used-as, for instance, paint or finelyground coal or very fine sawdust may be employed; but clay is for many reasons the best and most economical substance to make use of.

Instead of placing the bag in a box, as described, the same may be otherwise supported or may be held by two men and filled with asphalt, then tied up, and placed upon its side to cool.

Without limiting myself, however, to a textile receptacle of any special character or to any particular covering material, I claim as my invention 1. The combination with a body of asphalt, of a covering of textile material having a coating of clay, substantially as described.

2. In the packing of asphalt, first providing a receptacle of textile material, coating the same with a paste of clay and water, and partially drying the same, and then melting and pouring themolten asphalt into the receptacle, substantially as set forth.

In testimony whereof I have signed my name to this specification in the presence of two subscribing witnesses.

RICHARD DANA UPHAM.

Witnesses:

ROBERT E. UPHAM, CLIFFORD PARSIL. 

